ArchivedLogs:Kinetic Reaction Chains

Kinetic Reaction Chains
Dramatis Personae Jackson, Thomas	2014-03-28 '
Location <XS> Teachers' Lounge - B1
Running a school for mutant teenagers just taking control of their powers is not an easy job, and the teachers at Xavier's deserve a place to come and relax. This lounge is their place to come and de-stress, and it does not skimp for relaxation. The room is elegant and luxurious, plush couches making up the seating in the lounge and a glossy glassy bar wrapping around one wall, well-stocked with alcohol (and perpetually fresh-brewed coffee, for those so inclined.) A large-screen high-def television hangs on one wall, stocked with about as many movies and games as the childrens' rec room upstairs. High bookshelves hold a wealth of books. The fridge here is always well stocked, and the cook is always willing to make deliveries down to this level. Far in the back, a hot tub is submerged into the floor, for still more unwinding. More days than not, there's some variety of snacks to be found on perched on an end of the bar -- quite often in the form of fresh-baked desserts. It's early yet on Friday; classes have yet to begin though they will be underway soon enough. At the moment breakfast is going on somewhere upstairs. Down here, Jackson (smelling strongly, still, of chlorine) is slipping a much less healthy breakfast onto the bartop counter -- a covered plater of mini almond pound cakes. Still oddly pale and unscarred and un/colourful/ with all his ink missing, he is dressed like he just got out of the gym, Xavier's tee and track pants and sneakers, and nabs two pound cake slices for himself before going to grab a mug of coffee. He sweetens it with a kind of /inordinate/ amount of sweetener and adds a splash of almond milk, taking his Healthy Breakfast to a couch to settle into it. There's a laptop -- a shiny new replacement for Jax's old exploded one -- already there that he pulls into his lap once he has settled down, opening it up to his email with a small frown. The chemistry teacher is in a mildly distracted mental state as he enters the teacher's lounge, with a tablet keeping his attention. He is wearing his labcoat over top a button up blue shirt which is tucked into a pair of pinstripe slacks. A pen sticking out between his lips bobs a little as he swipes fingers along the screen as he heads towards the bartop counter. The scent the reaches his, the combination of breakfast and chlorine causes him to raise his brow upward. "Excercise followed by breakfast? Well, I guess that is one way to prevent getting a cramp." He slides his tablet onto the counter, and pours himself a juice from the fridge. "At least the breakfast here seems to have a pretty wide duration, I may have to head up for a second breakfast." "You turned all hobbitsy on us?" Jackson glances up from his screen with an easy smile, curling one leg up beneath himself. "Though I ain't in no place t'judge, I eat basically nonstop. S'pound cake if you want, um," his cheeks flush a little bit darker as he gestures towards the plate. "-- A healthy balanced meal?" He offers this teasing description of cake with a note of laughter in his voice. "If I didn't eat as much as a hobbit I'd be more a waif than some of the models they put up for fashion." Thomas lets out a sigh as he swigs down some of the juice and acquires a bit of the pound cake as it was offered. "Thanks. Fuel for the fire as it were. Still with what had happened to you, from what I hear you probably need more rest than over exertion at this stage. It's been all of a week and you're going about like you're chugging rocket fuel." Glancing towards the coffee mug a moment, then he nods. "If Hank had made it that might very well be what you're drinking." Taking a bite out of the pound cake, he swipes at the tablet with a frown. "Bloody thing. I swear the vnc client is slowing down. Watching a simulation on a server and it's acting like I'm trying to do the computations on the damn thing itself." "Fuel for -- yeah." Jax's nose crinkles up just a little at the expression, a very faint shudder rippling through him. "Oh, gosh, I had /plenty/ enough rest. I was doin' nothin' but lyin' in bed for days. An' I kinda am chuggin' rocket fuel -- m'own personal sort, anyhow. There's more /sun/ about these days than there had been s'as good as, for me. Besides, it's hard to rest much when -- there's still like seven million an' two things t'be done, y'know? Explosion wasn't real politely timed." His head tips to one side, a little puzzled with the blank incomprehension of someone very much Not A Techie: "The what client?" He squints towards Thomas's tablet in curiousity. "Simulations'a what?" "Sorry. Meant my own fire, more than yours." Thomas wipes his hand off on his labcoat and offers to shake hands, the heat radiating from him palpable at that closeness. "Thomas Winthrop. Seen ya about, but well s'hard to really know most people well when you have your own obsessions." He offers an apologetic smile either way, but nods. "Hrm, guessing summer can be a bit much and winter a tad too little for you then. Well, unless you visited England, then you'd be wishing the sun peeked its head out." Raising a brow at the joking made about the explosion, Thomas shakes his head slightly at the gallows humor. "Least it was not worse than it was. I just hope trouble does not decide to make its way here. If they're attacking mutants, well a few inquiries could probably trace some of the lot from your apartment back to this school." WIth the questions and blank stare, he shifts in the stool slightly, taking on a more pedagogical air. "Virtual Network Computing, basically a more snotty way to say remote desktop. But more accurate for a server connection honestly. Been running calculations on chemical bonds and kinetic reaction chains, partly because of current events, and more partly since I've had damn all luck figuring a way to ship in some of the more fancy hardware I need for other experiments." Jackson lifts his hand, small nub of missing-finger just about one of the only places left on his bizarrely unblemished skin that still /bears/ scars. His handshake is firm and strong, his own internal heat no match for Thomas's even if it's still considerably higher than most people's. "Jackson. An' yeah, winter I kinda shrivel up sluggish like a half-dead houseplant an' summer I'm bouncin' off the /walls/ an' tryin' not to explode /myself/." He shakes his head with a small sheepish smile. "X-Gene ain't real good at accountin' for -- well, okay, pretty much anything." He drops his hand back to pick up his slice of cake, taking a quick bite. "I'm jus' kinda worried, I mean, this thing with our apartment was the most /news/-y but /somethin's/ been up since before that even. I mean, what happened with Anole -- someone's attackin' mutants in /quieter/ ways too, y'know? An' that seemed way more senseless somehow. If they're snatching up our /kids/ too --" He bites down on his lip, head shaking. The interest in his expression only grows at Thomas's answer. "Kinetic reaction chains? What's -- um," his cheeks turn deep red and in response to the more teacherly air /he/ seems a little more /studenty/, a little bashful but openly curious with his uncertain: "-- What's that exactly? An' what's it to do with current events?" "On the plus side I get to annoy people by eating like a pig and not gaining weight. On the minus side, I have to eat like a pig Not to gain weight. If I can figure out a way to store the amount of calories in a chankonabe into an energy bar without it being made entirely of lard, I would." Thomas lets out a sigh, then pours himself some more juice so he can finish off the poundcake piece. "It could be worse I guess. I could have not been able to return to a solid form, it would make doing anything useful without a telepath around impossible." Nodding at the worry that he had, Thomas seems sympathetic at least. "Yeah, between shady government agencies, hate groups, and the like, I wouldn't doubt that some corporations would do the same. Think of what a biotech company could do with a metamorph, or even just a regenerator. Mind you, I'm not much better, but at least I keep my experiments to myself. I've been trying to figure out how to turn my own smoke into a fiber mass, but the fabrication costs alone would be exorbitant. Plain old carbon fiber is ten bucks a pound for a reason after all." Letting out a sigh, he shakes his head, but smiles at the curiosity exhibited. "Different materials react to kinetic events differently. If a material has a rigid crystalline structure, it can handle certain forces better, but then becomes subject to breaking and becoming fragile. If something is a liquid, it can absorb a great deal of energy, but well, its impractical. A kinetic reaction chain is basically just what I call it when I'm trying to see what happens when structural shapes become impacted," he pauses at that to see if what he's saying is making any sense or if he should not bother the art teacher with this matter. "Oh -- gosh, yeah, I actually -- knew a guy once who was stuck as a -- mostly-incorporeal shadow for the better part'a a year, it -- did make a lotta life trickier for him." Jax's nose crinkles up again, a small breath of laughter escaping him. "Gosh. I don't know what it says about our lives I can say something like that an' it just feels normal to me." He gives a small shudder at the thought of ill-intentioned biotech companies. "Yeah. I -- between all the different people with /creepy/ intentions or -- or who knows /what/ intention, I can't even /imagine/ why someone would kidnap a kid jus' to lop off his /arm/ I don't think I even /want/ to know. But there's sure as heck a lot out there that could go -- real, real terrible." He lapses back into quiet as Thomas explans, picking up his coffee to sip at it while the other teacher talks. There's a slight crease to his brow, a focused intensity to his look, that suggests he's -- paying close attention, even if sorting through it may be a little bit of a struggle. "Tryin' to -- see what -- happens when you -- /hit/ different types of things?" he clarifies cautiously. "Like what sorts of things?" "Yeah, it's a worry I have. If something went wrong," Thomas lets out a sigh, his breath fogging against the cold glass of his cup. "But yeah, there are many, many reasons why someone would be wanting to capture or kill mutants, be it for science, profit, hatred, or god knows what. I'm sure that some people are probably just stolen to make some rich guy not die from some disease he managed to pick up." He offers a shrug, then pushes the cup and crumbs away to have his tablet more safely situated. "Basically yes, but at smaller scales so I know which ones to scale up. Bigger scale, more processing power and time necessary." Thomas smiles though, glad the explanation was enough. "A few different things, right now I'm just experimenting with known datasets. Kevlar, ceramics, certain gels. See why they fail where they fail." He frowns and pushes a curled lock of hair away from his horn to scratch it slightly. "My sister... likes taking more risks than I do, and she makes a better target. I don't want something to happen to her because she's going off traipsing around the world with her husband to be. And it's not like I can strap a bullet proof vest and riot gear on her," he says with a sardonic chuckle. "Well -- on the plus side, if somethin' does go wrong you're pretty much in the best place on /earth/ t'handle it. Folks here have seen /so/ many people through all /kindsa/ power-mishaps. You shoulda seen how outta control /I/ was when I got here." Jackson shakes his head in remembrance. "You know what's real terrible about all these folks -- kidnappin' people an' things for whatever-reason is that there's so many'a us who'd be /happy/ to help out with -- with healin' or research or whatever work if, you know, they jus' /asked/. I have a friend --" Something crosses darker, unhappy, briefly, over Jax's face; somewhere at the very edges of the room for a moment there's a flickering glow like firelight that soon fades. "-- had a friend," he corrects himself, "who was workin' with a research team down at Mendel -- anyway he always liked to poke at me on account'a if you could figure out what I /do/ it'd /revolutionize/ solar power -- an', cool, I'm /happy/ to be /scienced/ at when it's with /consent/ is all." He sips at his coffee again, teeth clicking quietly against the edge of the mug. "Oh -- oh. Yeah, it'd be good for folks as is a real visible target to have --" He hesitates over another long sip of coffee. "Wait, so you're lookin' into -- like. Armour type stuff? Protective -- materials? What kinds of --" But then something else in Thomas's words clicks and his eye widens. "Wait /future husband/? She an' Aloke -- wait /really/ /when/? /Already/? Oh /gosh/ Aloke didn't say /nothin'/, I woulda got them a congratulations -- somethin'. Oh /wow/ oh wow." Looking to Jax, Thomas contemplates something and nods. "Yes, I imagine that you'd have to be leaps and bounds more efficient than even the best ones now. Though you don't pass it over to electrical energy, if you did you'd probably be generating all sorts of electronic interference. But yeah, I'm sure a good number of people Are willing, just as there are plenty of people who would just want to be left alone." Tilting his head back, he looks towards the ceiling. "But, people assume that they are what they are. If they aren't willing to do something for someone else, then obviously why would anyone be willing to do so." With a bit of an awkward look, Thomas nods slightly at the question. "Well that's the idea. But the military has been looking into this stuff for ages, anything I do has to basically be looking in the exact opposite direction ya know? Making something harder, making something explode to negate the energy, making something denser. All of those things have a history of being looked at after all. And well, most of it is impractical in a modern society anyway. I doubt it would put off the right message if mutants started to walk around in ceramic scale armor draped over layers of kevlar." He blinks though as Jax gets excitable over the marriage. "Well there was asking, and she said yes. I don't know how they plan on doing a wedding proper like though. She'd need a seamstress to make the dress, there's no bloody way my parents would approve of Any marriage she has. My parents don't know Mallory and I even See each other often. Ah well, it's their wedding to plan not mine. I should probably offer to help pay for her though, I mean, its supposed to be the bridal side's responsible for it and I don't think that will work out quite so well." He looks like he's tempted to grab one of the bottles of alcohol, then shakes his head remembering there are still classes to teach. "I -- actually know a fantastic tailor -- /designer/ -- who has, um. Extensive experience workin' with folks with nonstandard body configurations --" Jackson sounds just a little distant as he says this, looking down into his coffee and then takes a quick gulp. "Wow. Okay. I should congratulate them proper." There's a deep red blush in his cheeks, and he peeks upward at Thomas over his coffee cup. "Sucks your blood family ain't cool. I hope she knows though -- that y'/both/ know -- y'got family here now, 'least." The blush deepens, and he looks back down into his cup. His fingers drum against its sides slowly. He reaches forward, picking up the last of his pound cake to eat it quickly. His smile quirks up a little bit crookedly. "Maybe not ceramic armour an' kevlar, but, gosh, there's sure been no end'a times in my life I could /do/ with some body armour." It's just a little bit wry. "Probably useful to know a person like that with the number of physical mutants that have come up of late. You'd think that people would realize mutants are a part of the economy too. Course most of the time they forget that the people that they are discriminating against have money to spend places anyway." Thomas nods at the comment about his blood family, and lets out a sigh. "Yeah they've always hidden Mallory from the public, and me they disguised since I wasn't too changed. You could probably make a Disney movie about it. Though I refuse to sing any of the parts." Sliding out of the stool, he stretches slightly and nods. "She is very much attached to this place. We discussed evacuating during the apocalypse and she wouldn't, so I wouldn't. It's the first place she's felt she belongs, so yeah, she knows." He smiles slightly, but shakes his head. "We'll see. You can't get much more protective than a few feet of water, but I doubt you'd want to move around in a mobile aquarium. On the plus side, you'd be safe from radiation though." Thomas flicks the juice glass, letting the ping resound. "On the minus side, whatever keeps the water in place probably can be broken pretty easily." "Kinda a cycle, though, on account'a then the discrimination means that mutants are /way/ more likely than average folks to be /well/ below the poverty line. An' /not/ have money t'spend. An' then nobody's accountin' for their money cuz they've bigot-ed us into the poorhouse." Jackson gulps down the rest of his coffee, and presses his knuckles to his lips to stifle a laugh at the notion of a mobile aquarium. "Oh, /gosh/. My twins would love that, actually. Maybe we can make mobile aquariums for /them/. Outta bulletproof glass. -- If y'ain't gonna sing can we at least dress you up as a dashin' prince?" "There is that. How many students here have been completely disowned by their parents after all. And given time and education, I'm sure we've got a couple in the current class roster who will end up able to buy and sell small countries." Shaking his head, Thomas chuckles at the talk of mobile aquarium. "I'm sure that one of your boys, ahh, Sebastian was it? The one in the robotics club. He'd be able to make one himself if he was interested, but bulletproof glass isn't the greatest of things. Funny thing is, the transparent aluminum they talk about in Star Trek is just Sapphire crystal. Though they've been working on other transparent metallics and ceramics that would be stronger than bulletproof glass." Rolling his eyes slightly at the dashing prince thing, he nods. "Very well, but I loathe tights. I prefer not to highlight just how hard it is for my body to maintain mass." "Too many." Jax grimaces, setting his computer aside to stand up, crossing over behind the bar so he can wash his plate and mug. "B, yeah, he's real into that kinda thing. Though I s'pose he's /usually/ turnin' his talents to more /practical/ stuff than rovin' aquariums. -- Wait, you can make bulletproof stuff outta sapphires?" He flicks wet from his hands into the sink and then wipes them on his shirt once he's shut the water off, drying his dishes on a towel and putting them away. "I thought they was jus' for bein' pretty." He grins at the agreement; for a brief moment, Thomas's outfit transforms into an elaborate /princely/ Renfaire-worthy confection of heavy velvet and rich brocade, a long cloak draped over his shoulders and a sword sheathed at his hip. "Y'think we could convince them t'get married in costume? An' all the guests too?" Jackson sounds /so hopeful/ before Thomas's attire returns to its usual. /He/ returns to the couch, picking up his laptop and folding it beneath his arm. "Hrm? Oh yeah. They aren't able to make them in too huge of sheets, but they can make em probably about two feet or so on an edge and about a half inch thick. And well, it's about as strong as you'd expect transparent alumina to be. I mean, it's not diamond, but it's a helluva lot easier to produce sapphire than diamond," Thomas replies with a nod. However the illusion springing about him has him glancing over himself, then flipping the tablet into camera mode to take a picture to see easier. "I don't intend to convince them of anything. My sister is a bit of a nerd, but Aloke seems more higher artsy stuff. Who knows, they may want to go traditional like for his family, they did visit them after all." He shrugs and puts his own glas into the sink to rinse and wipe, the water steaming off his hands. "It's their big day, not our excuse to make things look the way we think they ought to. Hrmm, though I will probably recommend doubling or trippling the food order. I don't doubt most of the people attending will have higher than usual appetites." "Oh gosh. If they're havin' lots'a folks from /here/ comin', food might be /most/'a their budget," Jackson agrees with a small laugh. He hugs his computer in against his chest, rocking back onto his heels. "M'sure whatever they go with it'll be perfect. Long's they're happy with it. Even /if/ I still want to come in a pirate costume." He grins, lifting his chin in a nod to Thomas. "Class'll be soon. I should -- put on /actual/ clothes. See you 'round." "Yeah. I ought to go grab my second breakfast before my classes. Maybe my simulation will finish up before I finish." Thomas gives Jackson a nod as he picks up his own tablet. "Have a pleasant day, and you can always mention your desire to wear a a pirate coat to it. I have no idea what the theme of the wedding will be, they only had gotten engaged days ago." "My husband and I was supposed to have an actual wedding-type-wedding," Jackson says a little wistfully. "Like the kind for family an' friends an' all. 'cuz'a we just did the /marriage/ part quiet-like at court but we was gonna --" He shakes his head abruptly as though clearing it of some stray thought; his smile brightens as he nods again. "Totally tellin' Aloke I'd be the /pirateyest/ of pirates. Enjoy your breakfast. Second breakfast." Turning, he keeps his laptop hugged close as he bounces out the door.